Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

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The Zionsville, Ind., point guard knew he wanted to attend Michigan in the fall, and spending 5 hours Monday on campus stamped his approval.

The 6-foot-2 Dakich will be a preferred walk-on in the fall, supplementing the 11 returning players on scholarship and serving a role with point guard depth.

But Monday was about much more than that.

As he toured the basketball facilities with his father, ESPN commentator and former Bowling Green and Indiana coach Dan Dakich, every turn was more enticing.

That he played AAU ball with incoming forward Mark Donnal and has grown closer to incoming star wing Zak Irvin only helped.

“The visit was awesome, the campus was amazing, the facilities are unbelievable, the academics,” he said. “I’m really close with Mark, and I’ve gotten a lot closer with Zak because he lives near me. I thought it was a perfect fit, and my dad did, too. He said, ‘Your dream is to play in the Big Ten and see what you can do,’ and that’s what I’m trying to do. If I can’t play, that’s fine, then I hope we win some when I’m there.”

In his NCAA tournament bracket, he picked the Wolverines racing to the championship last month. Growing up in Indiana with a father who played, coached and has a radio show there, it wasn’t easy to pick U-M. But he never thought otherwise. He turned down a potential scholarship and playing time at midmajor schools.

His role is clear — “I’m coming in as the third point guard because they have two good point guards in Derrick Walton and Spike Albrecht,” he said — but the appeal at Michigan is every player earns his time, and he’ll have that chance.

His father plays skeptic for a living as a radio host and knows coaches across the country, but he was thrilled by U-M’s staff.

While it was a business conversation walking through the campus, at lunch the topic with coach John Beilein turned to the Beilein-Dakich connection. In 2002, Dakich accepted the West Virginia coaching job, only to leave after a week. That opened the door for the Mountaineers to hire Beilein, who built a solid NCAA tournament résumé and got Michigan’s attention.

“It was pretty cool to talk about that,” Andrew Dakich said. “They get along great. My dad trusts him more than anyone. … It’s one of the best coaching staffs, if not the best coaching staff, there is. He’s very excited and thinks I’m in good hands for the next four years.”

The ties run even deeper. U-M assistant Jeff Meyer worked with Dakich at Indiana in 2008, when Dakich replaced Kelvin Sampson, who resigned midseason under NCAA scrutiny. U-M assistant LaVall Jordan also played and coached at Butler.

But this visit allowed a new perspective on them from the older Dakich.

It’s another example of a prominent basketball parent entrusting Beilein to develop his son. He has seen it in scholarship players Tim Hardaway Jr., Glenn Robinson III and Jon Horford, and also in Andrew’s mirror image, former captain Josh Bartelstein, who helped make the pitch for a similar reserve role.

“He said it was just an unbelievable experience that you’ll cherish for the rest of your life,” Andrew Dakich said. “He also said you get chances, the coaches give you chances and treat walk-ons just like the best player.”

On a team that started walk-on guards just five years ago and played a virtual unknown in Albrecht major minutes in the national championship game, Dakich has hope.